Cable connector assemblies are used at the termination of a cable to enable the quick connection or disconnection of a device, such as a well logging sond or a hydrophone. The cable connector assembly permits the substitution of different sonds without the need for a separate cable for each sond. This procedure has been used with standard electrical cables.
As the number and complexity of the downhole measurements increase, the data that must be transmitted up an electrical cable strains capacity to carry the information. This limits the number and complexity of the measurements that can be taken and/or requires preprocessing of the data downhole to limit the amount of information that is transferred along the cable.
Optical well logging cables provide a solution to the limitations of standard electrical cables and offer increased data transmission rates and much larger data carrying capacity. Previously, the optical cable connector assembly terminated on the cable and had to mate to an optical receiver in the sond. However, this procedure required precise alignments between the optics or optical fibers in the sond and the cable connector assembly. It also required cleanliness seldom encountered in such harsh environments to avoid loss of signal transmission across the interface. U.S. application Ser. No. 285,146, filed July 20, 1981, now abandoned, completely incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, disclosed a cable connector assembly wherein the light signals to be transmitted up or down the optical cable are converted into electrical signals in the cable connector assembly. This permitted the mating of an optical cable with conventional electrical sonds without the need of a precise transmission of light through a make/break connector interface. However, the connector disclosed therein was limited in that the sond and cable could not be disengaged in an emergency if the sond became lodged in a well bore and it was necessary to extract the cable alone. Furthermore, the connector did not seal individual conductors in individual units. And finally, as the temperature increases it would be desirable to have a hermetic seal on the sond end of the cable connector assembly, i.e., the interface between the electrical pin conductor and the sond. Still an additional desirable feature is a separate sealing system to isolate the electronics cavity from the cable termination and a sealing system surrounding the termination of the conductor elements in the optical fiber which can be tested at pressure to determine the integrity of the system prior to the insertion into a high pressure environment such as a well bore.